Last Year, DL. This Year, OK So Far.

A year ago, Shawn Hill had a chance to be one of Washington's top-of-the-rotation pitchers. Wily Mo Pena had a chance to be one of Washington's middle-of-the-order hitters. Their respective seasons, thereafter, moved in lockstep: Both struggled. Both fought through painful injuries in the first half of the year. Both spent all their time after the all-star break of the disabled list.

Today, the similarities continued -- while taking a turn toward the hopeful. During the morning practice, Hill threw for 10 minutes in the bullpen. Pena took batting practice.

Their reports? For Hill, no arm pain. For Pena, recovering from left rotator cuff surgery, no shoulder pain.

"This is much better than I felt last year at any point in time," Hill said after the throwing session. "I'm not taking any painkillers, I don't have to go through any radical treatment or therapy. I'm just doing massage and making sure I'm stretching it out really well. It's definitely the best I've felt in quite some time."

Pena, who has spent the last few months taking batting practice in Tampa, said that his shoulder is now feeling fully recovered and "real good," he said.

There is a point, of course, at which the Hill-Pena comparison... well, gets a little forced. A healthy Hill is one of Washington's top assets. A healthy Pena, meanwhile, will have to fight just to make the roster. Last season, Pena batted .205 in 195 at bats, all while fighting shoulder pain that only became a diagnosed injury when, finally, he spoke up.

"Thing is, I didn't want to say that because I wanted to play," Pena said. "So but the more I played, the more my shoulder was going bad. So one day they decided to talk to me about it, and I told them my shoulder was messed up."

In retrospect, he wishes he had mentioned the injury sooner.

"Yeah," he said, "but you know how it is when you want to play. You just want to be a man."

Several of you have rightly pointed out the reasons why AD should bat fourth: he slugs, he covers for Zimmerman, and he leads off the second inning a lot. I only wish we had a speedster or two who would make it much more likely that AD will see fast balls. Milledge stole some, was caught stealing a lot. He could steal 30, with some base running coaching? Dukes could steal 20 with the same coaching? In 2001, Guzman stole 25 bases. His last four seasons, his stolen bases TOTAL 25. Are his base stealing days over? Zimmerman, of course, steals nada. With that in mind, perhaps Zim should bat fourth and AD fifth? Zim will still be protected and have a real chance for a breakout year, AD will still lead off a lot of second innings and will slug behind the 35-double Guzman and the high OBP Dukes. This year, everyone will see AD’s patience at the plate and they will be more patient as a result? Can 60 bases be stolen in front of Zim and AD? Manny is not in favor of stealing bases and small ball, I know, but if successful percentages go up, he may relent and let them go more often?

Forget AD batting second; it makes no sense. Having said that, here he is: "I don't think batting second will change my approach," Dunn said. "I won't go up there and try to leg out a bunt. Maybe in certain situations, I may try to really force myself to get a guy over. Early in the game, I'm just going to swing it."

And a small ball funny that may give Manny a chuckle (Stan and I LOLed): "He's one of the best bunters we have," (Dusty) Baker said. "I work on bunting every single day," said Dunn. "I can bunt, seriously.” HUH?

BTW, AD has the best base-stealing % on the team? 76% Yes? No? But he says he only steals a base when he’s certain to be safe. Hmmm. Take a look at Boni's horrible SB % from last year.

You could switch Johnson and Dukes and get good r-l-r-l balance all the way down. Strongest possible outfield, having Dunn and Johnson next to each other guarantees your opposing pitcher burns at least 10 pitches on just them each time through the lineup.

Milledge deserves a lot more respect than he's given alright. I'm not sure fans have ever forgiven him for the largely overblown 'trouble' tag that everyone placed on him.

Willigham is also unlikely to play in right because of his poor arm strength. I enjoy speculating on the roster but really can't shake the feeling that our 4o man roster is still in flux. I'm just afraid they'll trade a spare part, just as Johnson takes his annual trip to the DL, and we'll be derailed again.

First, Dunn gets suggested as a #2 hitter, now Willingham? What are you people ingesting? Stop looking at the sabremetrics & l/r balances for a second & think; Dunn & Willingham are both solid middle-of-the-order (#3-#6) hitters, with occaisional to proven power.
They are both now members of a team that had the devil of a time producing runs consistently in 2008, yet some of you think they should be considered for the #2 slot in the batting order for 2009. Is there a viral madness that has posessed the inhabitants of NJ?

If anyone of the high-OBP players should move to the #2 slot in the order, I'd consider NJohnson first; high pitch count, gap power, better historic W/K ratio than either Dunn or Willingham. But then again, it's all opinions at this point.

Hopefully, the Levy group can get some local partnerships established & staffed by outfits like Ben's (half-smokes & chili) & Five Guys (Burgers & fries), along with some other local purveyors. I'd also like to see an expanded local breweries list available at the park, at both the Red Porch & mobile units (Carts), if necessary.

I also meant to add expanded (2-or more) to my list of local faves; You could possibly add HardTimes cafe' to the locals' list for multiple locations, if space were made available & they were amenable.

Manny will bat Dunn 5th, because, well, that's the best spot for him for Manny.

They better trade NJ while he's hot out of spring training, before he gets even a hangnail, because everyone will be worried again, the second he gets a nagging whatever. Otherwise, they need to move one of the outfielders.

Do you think Willingham would bring in more than Johnson at this point? Could this be the insistence on the lower salary?